The area extent of semiconductor component housings for embedding an integrated circuit semiconductor chip, connection elements and, partially, a circuit carrier in a plastic housing compound is continuously increasing owing to the complexity of integrated circuits in the semiconductor chips, whose area extent is likewise growing. However, electronic modules comprise not only semiconductor component housings with semiconductor chips arranged as appropriate in them, but have additional discrete components in the form of active and passive components. These discrete components are either arranged on a higher-level circuit board with the semiconductor component, or are integrated together with a semiconductor chip in a common semiconductor component housing, by also being embedded in the plastic housing compound.
If the discrete components of an electronic module are additionally arranged on the higher-level circuit board, then the space requirement on the higher-level circuit board disadvantageously also grows as the area extent of the semiconductor component housing increases. If, in contrast, the passive components are embedded in a common plastic housing compound for the semiconductor component housing, then the space required by the electronic module increases, and access to the embedded discrete components is virtually no longer possible after being embedded in the plastic housing compound. Therefore, individual customer demands for the fitment of different discrete components in an electronic module can not be provided.
A further disadvantage associated with the integration of the discrete components on a common circuit mount within a plastic housing is that the process control is more difficult. If the discrete components are fitted before the connection of the semiconductor chip to the circuit carrier, then there is a risk of contamination, for example with fluxes, for the contact pads or contact connecting pads. If the discrete components are fitted after the fixing of the connection elements, then there is a risk of the connection elements being damaged during the handling of the fitting and soldering of the discrete components. Finally, a further disadvantage is that defectively fitted and/or non-functional discrete components can no longer be removed from the plastic housing compound, or replaced within the plastic housing compound.